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	atalantapendrag 2008-06-02 05:07 pm UTC (link)
	Kage Baker's In The Garden of Iden (Elizabethan England), Sky Coyote (pre-white-settlement California), and Mendoza in Hollywood (Hollywood, yes, but in the 1850s) would fit your bill nicely, as well as most of her anthologies (various times and places). (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:20 pm UTC

	brennalarose 2008-06-02 05:11 pm UTC (link)
	If you're willing to sit through obnoxious info-dumps, the Sister Fidelma/Brother Eadulf novels by Peter Tremayne are pretty good. The info-dumps are predictable enough you can skip around them. They're Dark Ages British Isles (mostly Ireland) and pretty accurate. I think the first one in the series, Absolution by Murder, deals with historical figures. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:20 pm UTC

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brennalarose, 2008-06-02 07:11 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 08:04 pm UTC

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brennalarose, 2008-06-02 10:12 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:40 am UTC

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magnolia_mama, 2008-06-02 06:21 pm UTC

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brennalarose, 2008-06-02 07:04 pm UTC

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magnolia_mama, 2008-06-02 07:13 pm UTC

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brennalarose, 2008-06-02 07:25 pm UTC

jesuitfluff
2008-06-02 05:16 pm UTC (link)

Guy Gavriel Kay, with pretty much any of his books that are not the Fionavar Tapestry.

The Lions of al-Rassan is pre-Reconquista fantasy!Spain. The Sarantine Mosaic is fantasy!Byzantine Empire, obvious analogues of Justinian and Theodora: Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors. The Last Light of the Sun is fantasy!Vikings invading Wales/Britain.

It may be out of fashion, but James Michener tends to do amazing historical novels. Poland, for instance, is wonderful. So is Hawaii and Mexico.

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:21 pm UTC

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magnolia_mama, 2008-06-02 06:23 pm UTC

	solle 2008-06-02 05:18 pm UTC (link)
	William Goldman - The Princess Bride Still the best book I've read in my life. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:22 pm UTC

ms_treesap
2008-06-02 05:38 pm UTC (link)

Arundati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' is an excelent book set in an Indian village in the 1960's (or 70's; it's been a while since I read it). Very atmospheric.

For something a little different, try Mirjam Pressler, 'Shylock's Daughter'; it's a book based on on Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, and (as you can tell) mostly about his daughter. Surprisingly good fic.

And there's 'Pope Joan' by Donna Woolfolk Cross; the author admits in her notes that she did bend fact several times to make a more dramatic book, but it was well worth her effort. Seriously, I read and re-read this several times last summer.

Finally, I recommend trying some of Mary Renault' books about Greek historical or mythical figures; she has a trilogy about Alexander, another about Theseus, and several stand alones about various poets and travelling artisans. She also doesn't shy away from her characters' homo- or bisexuality if that's a further inducement.

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:23 pm UTC

	gabsy 2008-06-02 05:40 pm UTC (link)
	I'd suggest Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet. It's about building a cathedral! In 13th or 14th century Europe, I can't remember! IT'S AMAZING. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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zulu, 2008-06-02 06:35 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:36 pm UTC

ladybirdsleeps
2008-06-02 05:41 pm UTC (link)

If you're in the mood for books that aren't heavy enough to kill someone with, then Mary Renault's novels about the classical world are a must. Especially if you like the hoyay.

Tales of the Otori is a recent popular series that takes place in fantasy!Japan, but one that isn't weaboo-romanticized. The story can be quite dark and nasty at times, but the prose itself is very light.

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belafarinrod, 2008-06-02 05:57 pm UTC

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ladybirdsleeps, 2008-06-02 07:16 pm UTC

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belafarinrod, 2008-06-02 07:43 pm UTC

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ladybirdsleeps, 2008-06-02 07:58 pm UTC

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belafarinrod, 2008-06-02 08:07 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:34 pm UTC

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brown_betty, 2008-06-07 03:08 am UTC

	beachlass 2008-06-02 05:47 pm UTC (link)
	The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh - set in Burma and Malaya - it's epic and sweeping and enthralling. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:35 pm UTC

rotten_fish
2008-06-02 05:54 pm UTC (link)

Well, Siddhartha for rural India. A Hero Of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov is one of my favorite novels - takes place early 1800s Russia and it's really a collection of short stories. Kind of. The point of the novel was to talk about Russia's culture and describe its landscape, so I think you would enjoy it. Uh, you could look into Dead Souls, another favorite (also Russian), but it's long (really, really long), weighty, and was never finished. But also very funny. (And omg, I didn't know this: Michael Palin from Monty Python did a radio adaption!! I will have to find this.) Um, I have other Russian novels I like, but I don't think they're in that time period. Also I can't find them :(

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:39 pm UTC

	seiberwing 2008-06-02 05:55 pm UTC (link)
	I've always loved the Brother Cadfael series, if you've a thing for mysteries. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 06:42 pm UTC

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seiberwing, 2008-06-02 07:21 pm UTC

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tofuknight, 2008-06-02 06:48 pm UTC

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wankismyfandom, 2008-06-02 07:09 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 07:50 pm UTC

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tofuknight, 2008-06-03 02:59 am UTC

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stromatolite, 2008-06-02 11:09 pm UTC

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frequentmouse, 2008-06-03 10:15 pm UTC

shouganai
2008-06-02 05:56 pm UTC (link)

Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and a third one which I haven't read yet and don't remember the name of, but which I expect to be as good as the other two.

They're huge books, 800 - 1000 pages in hardcover, but very readable, funny, intricate, and thought-provoking. They're istorical novels set in the late 1600s to mid 1700s, ranging all over the world from England to France to Holland to Africa to South America and more. The books follow the occasionally intertwining stories of three people: Daniel Waterhouse, Puritan and Natural Philosopher; Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds; and Eliza, slave girl turned financial wizard turned Countess. Includes many historical figures (my favorite is Isaac Newton) and many fictional ones.

Stephenson's Cryptonomicon would also fit your bill. It's a similar historical novel with steampunk overtones about the early days of computing.

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 07:25 pm UTC

	beccastareyes 2008-06-02 06:00 pm UTC (link)
	About all I have are historical fantasy books. If you're interested, I can give my recs. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 07:27 pm UTC

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beccastareyes, 2008-06-02 07:43 pm UTC

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ladybirdsleeps, 2008-06-02 08:06 pm UTC

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the_mouse, 2008-06-03 05:44 pm UTC

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beguilingargyle, 2008-06-04 09:38 am UTC

notjo
2008-06-02 06:03 pm UTC (link)

Sharon Kay Penman - The Sunne in Splendour, which is Richard III as told by someone who doesn't think he's evil (common complaint: way too romantic and chivalrous Richard).

Sarah Waters - Tipping the Velvet, England, Victorian Period, story of a young woman's accepting of herself as a lesbian, with much cross-dressing. Kind of a romance. "I wanted to write a story that had lesbians at the heart of urban life; that played with literary models; and, more importantly, showed that there was not just one way of being a lesbian, but many."

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 07:29 pm UTC

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notjo, 2008-06-02 07:32 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 08:12 pm UTC

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jesuitfluff, 2008-06-02 08:45 pm UTC

papervolcano
2008-06-02 06:06 pm UTC (link)

I'm rather fond of Bernard Cornwell's stuff. They're hardly challenging reads (and the Sharpe novels in particular tend toward the formulaic), but they're nice, solid historical novels. The Saxon series in particular, set during the Viking invasion of England, is awesome stabby fun. There's also a series about an English archer during the 100-Years-War, which, while a bit Sharpe-does-Agincourt, is also a good read.

Also! Conn Iggulden. Either the Caesar or Genghis Khan series - both are really impressive. IIRC, he actually spent several months in Mongolia while researching the books, and they feel pretty accurate.

AlsoAlso! If you're up for graphic novels, pick up Crécy by Warren Ellis. It's hardcore awesome.

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 07:32 pm UTC

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sithwitch13, 2008-06-02 07:43 pm UTC

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msmanna, 2008-06-03 12:00 am UTC

	belafarinrod 2008-06-02 06:07 pm UTC (link)
	The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is the Napoleon wars with dragons. Very entertaining (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 07:33 pm UTC

	missm 2008-06-02 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	For ancient Rome, the Falco series by Lindsey Davis is fun. "Silver Pigs" is the first book. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 08:16 pm UTC

findchaem
2008-06-02 06:38 pm UTC (link)

Right at the end of your timeperiod - around 1800 - is the setting for Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey and Maturin books. (The Master and Commander movie was based on these, though I've heard it's not all that true to their tone, and not all fans of the books liked the movie. The first book in the series has the same name but not the same plot.)

Aubrey commands a series of British ships during the Napoleonic wars, and Maturin is his ship's surgeon and best friend. The evocation of the time period is amazing.

Susanna Clarke's fantasy novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is set in the same time period and won about every award there is. Honestly, though, I don't think its setting is nearly as well-done as in the O'Brien books.

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 08:18 pm UTC

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quartz, 2008-06-03 05:57 am UTC

(no subject) - findchaem, 2008-06-03 02:51 pm UTC

	atalantapendrag 2008-06-02 06:53 pm UTC (link)
	Oh! I can't believe I forgot! Ann Chamberlin's Sofia, The Sultan's Daughter, and Reign of the Favored Women. Kidnapped Italian noblewoman makes good (or, at least, does some political scheming) in the harems of the Ottoman Empire. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 08:20 pm UTC

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belafarinrod, 2008-06-02 09:31 pm UTC

	lots42 2008-06-02 06:54 pm UTC (link)
	1602 by Neil Gaiman. Basically supererhoroes in the year 1602. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-02 08:22 pm UTC

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lots42, 2008-06-02 08:36 pm UTC

	tehrin 2008-06-02 07:24 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know how interested you are in folklore, but this is one of my favorite books of all time. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:16 am UTC

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cmikhailovic, 2008-06-03 04:00 am UTC

	jarofclay 2008-06-02 07:25 pm UTC (link)
	A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. Set in post-independence India. Daunting size, but an easy read and very rewarding. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. Set in 1970s London, but about first generation Indian immigrants. Really well-observed, and funny. There's a film version with Naveen Andrews, but I've never seen it! (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:18 am UTC

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frequentmouse, 2008-06-03 10:18 pm UTC

wankismyfandom
2008-06-02 07:31 pm UTC (link)

I just finished reading Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds, which was wonderful, and which describes itself as "a novel of an ancient China that never was".

Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose is set in Europe in the 1300s.

Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is set at the time of Marco Polo, and his The Castle of Crossed Destinies is in a fairy-tale kind of setting.

And, of course, Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude takes place in a fictional South American town over 100 years that start somewhere in the 1800s, I think.

Oh, and I'm currently reading The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Stirling, which is tasty steampunk alternate history love.

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(no subject) -

mmanurere, 2008-06-02 07:49 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:29 am UTC

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tofuknight, 2008-06-03 03:06 am UTC

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ceteramisto, 2008-06-03 03:53 am UTC

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the_mouse, 2008-06-03 05:45 pm UTC

panthea
2008-06-02 07:46 pm UTC (link)

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is one of my all-time favorites. Set in both futuristic England and 14th century same, the framing conceit is time travel, which isn't really important except that it gets the main character back in time so she's an outsider in the Medieval period, trying to fit in. From what little I can tell (I minored in medieval history, but it was a very minor minor), it's pretty damn accurate, and in places creepy as hell.

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(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:32 am UTC

azazello
2008-06-02 07:46 pm UTC (link)

War and Peace for a depiction of a (largely aristocratic) Russia of the years up to, and after the Napoleonic invasion of 1812. It is very long, but truly awesome.

Dostoevsky for lower aristocracy or lower still class in later 19th Century Russia:

The Possessed (AKA The Devils)

Crime and Punishment

The Brothers Karamazov

Chekhov's short stories are priceless by a master (possibly THE master) of the art of short story.

Russian novels are mostly set in the 19th Century and later because they were exceedingly late in developing secular art forms, and when they did, they tended to import French or German cultural models. Pushkin essentially started an indigenous literature from scratch.

For a brilliant non-fictional introduction to Russian Culture, read "Natasha's Dance" by Orlando Figes. For a more scholarly overview from earliest times, "The Icon and the Axe" by J H Billington is a classic.

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(no subject) -

re_weird, 2008-06-03 12:16 am UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:37 am UTC

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arien, 2008-06-03 02:59 am UTC

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cmikhailovic, 2008-06-03 04:03 am UTC

	jetamors 2008-06-02 08:03 pm UTC (link)
	One of my favorite books is The Years of Rice and Salt, an alternate history where pretty much everyone in Europe is killed off by the Black Plague. Spans from that time to about.... 2100 or thereabouts, IIRC, as a set of novellas about several people who reincarnate together in various places. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

plazmah, 2008-06-02 08:16 pm UTC

(no subject) - pishbadlarr, 2008-06-03 12:38 am UTC

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